Stephen McManus quits playing to take up full-time coaching role at Motherwell

Craig Goldthorp

Veteran Motherwell FC defender Stephen McManus today announced his retirement from playing football at the age of 34.

Lanark-born McManus, who has made 135 appearances for Motherwell since 2013, hadn’t played a competitive first team match since February after sustaining a groin injury in a 2-0 defeat to Celtic at Parkhead.
The robust centre half, who played in Scotland’s famous 1-0 win against France in Paris almost exactly 10 years ago, will now coach full-time with the Motherwell academy.
He said: “I’ve decided to call it a day in my career, I’m retiring today.
“It’s something that’s been in the back of my mind since the summer.
“I’ve had a tough time with injury in the last three or four months of the season.
“I spoke to a couple of people in the game that I’ve got a lot of respect for in the game that have been in a similar position at that point of their career.
“I just felt it was the right time. I’ll move onto the coaching staff at Motherwell which is a fantastic opportunity.
“I’ve been one of the lucky ones that’s worked hard at the game as a young kid and my career has turned out to be pretty decent.
“I’ve had some wonderful times, a lot of lows in my career as well but I really appreciate the highs.”
McManus won 26 Scotland caps in a largely distinguished career which also took in playing spells at Celtic, Middlesbrough and a loan spell at Bristol City before joining ’Well.

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